Gaza protest shuts down Golden Gate Bridge for hours, causing ...

Traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge was shut down in both directions for hours Monday morning as a group of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked southbound traffic midspan according to CHP.

CHP reopened the bridge to southbound traffic shortly after 12:15 p.m., while northbound traffic was held for several minutes as authorities cleared their staging area that occupied those lanes as police and CHP officer arrested protesters. Both directions were reopened by around 12:20 p.m.

CHP said drivers should expect residual delays.

The bridge protest was the second demonstration to impact traffic on Bay Area freeways. It was first reported shortly after 8 a.m., hours after a pro-Palestinian protest closed all lanes on I-880 in Oakland.

Southbound traffic on the span was at a standstill with traffic backing up through the Robin Williams Tunnel and well past Sausalito on southbound 101, CHP said.

There was also word from CHP that protesters were also trying to block traffic on the northbound side, though vehicles seemed to be getting across the span in that direction.

Chopper footage of the protest on the Golden Gate Bridge showed protesters with a banner that read "STOP THE WORLD FOR GAZA" across the southbound lanes. There was no traffic seen in the video moving in the northbound lanes. 

While the protesters were only occupying southbound lanes on the bridge, CHP may have closed the northbound lanes as authorities attempt to clear the protest.

Shortly before 10:30 a.m., video from chopper showed protesters being detained, but the bridge remained closed. Drivers in the southbound back-up on Highway 101 were being instructed by CHP to turn around as authorities tried to clear some of the traffic from the freeway.

At around 11:45 a.m., CHP confirmed that 20 people had been arrested total in the two protests. By noon, tow trucks were beginning to remove the vehicles that protesters had blocked lanes with from the bridge.

According to Bay City News Service, an additional protest is planned for noon at UN Plaza and Market and Hyde streets in San Francisco, by the Group Code Pink. An action by the A15Action group is also planned at 5:30 p.m. at the Tesla factory in Fremont.  

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